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Feb 1, 2023; Houston, Texas, USA; Oklahoma City Thunder forward Darius Bazley (55) dribbles the ball during the fourth quarter against the Houston Rockets at Toyota Center. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-Imagn Images Troy Taormina-Imagn Images

How Darius Bazley Gave OKC Thunder’s Jalen Williams His ‘Welcome to the NBA Moment’

Originally posted on Oklahoma City Thunder on SI
By Ross Lovelace | Last updated Aug 28, 2025 7:00 PM ET

The best part about Oklahoma City’s rebuild was seeing the different skillsets and talents to play for the Thunder. Over the course of the reload, even the play-in season led by Chris Paul, the team had so many different players for the fans to get to know.

The common discourse around the Thunder’s full-on rebuild was that the team had so many young players with talent that they wouldn’t be able to keep them all. While that sentiment proved to be true to an extent, it’s safe to say it turned out as a positive for the Thunder. The team won its first NBA championship this season. But it’s also safe to say that they wouldn’t have achieved this level of success without the help of every player over the course of the rebuild.

One of the players that didn’t quite pan out but looked like he had an incredibly bright future in Oklahoma City was Darius Bazley. The young forward contributed heavily during the 2020 playoffs and took off during the next season as the Thunder shifted towards development.

Jalen Williams, who is now an All-Star in the league and one of the Thunder’s best players, was there for the tail end of the rebuild. He was one of the players that actually completed the roster and really put a bow on everything. After he was drafted, he got to work quickly.

Williams went on the Out The Mud Podcast this week to dish on his early days with the Thunder, and brought up Darius Bazley’s dominance. Bazley’s skillset left Williams with a lot of questions about his own fit in the NBA.

"Baze was killing the fives"

JDub on Darius Bazley making him feel like he wasn't ready for the NBA pic.twitter.com/nXroJ5hJKw
— Andrew Schlecht (@AndrewKSchlecht) August 28, 2025

“Shoutout to Darius Bazley,” Williams said. “I got to like Summer League before we had workouts they were already playing because they didn’t have a good year so everyone was kind of already back. Baze was killing the fives, I was like there is no way I play on this team.

“Darius Bazley, the lefty, he was wilding. And he had come off a good year, obviously he’d been in the league since he was like 17. In the fives, I was like I don’t know if I’m really ready for what is going on, just truth be told. Because he wilding in there, windmilling, dunking on people, talking [expletive].”

Of course, Williams had nothing to worry about. He was one of the most important players during the Thunder’s title run and completed the trifecta of All-Star, All-NBA, and All-Defensive Team. He will go down as one of the greatest Thunder draft picks in franchise history, as Oklahoma City selected him towards the end of the lottery.

For Bazley, things didn’t quite turn out like Williams expected. He fizzled out in Oklahoma City and never really found his footing from there. He debuted with the Lakers during Summer League, and looked terrific before a gruesome injury.

Williams’s story about Summer League camp just proves how talented NBA players truly are. It’s all about situation and development, but the raw skill of players across the league will always be impressive.

This article first appeared on Oklahoma City Thunder on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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